From what I understand, the turnaround times have been shortening, but they are quite long.
The challenge is the way programs aimed at the non-market sector are structured. The interest rate is only locked in against the first draw of the loan, which means after the project has started construction. That opens up quite a bit of risk for the project.
I think an improvement would be to commit to a fixed rate at an earlier point in the application stage, so there's more certainty going forward.